The art of defending has undergone a rapid transformation over the last twenty years or so. Generally speaking, the quality of individual defenders has declined in the global game. In the 1990s, the likes of Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Nesta, Tony Adams, Jaap Stam and Marcel Desailly roamed footballing contours. In the early 2000s, Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, Fabio Cannavaro, Lucio and Carles Puyol were in their prime. I don’t think it is just misty eyed nostalgia on my part to suggest that there are few centre halves of this calibre in the world game today. Even Thiago Silva, considered by many as the finest centre back in the world, was dropped from his national side for...
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